The Race will be known as “The Thursday Race” and will consist of Nine races as shown

The Series will be completed if Five or more races are completed.

The Organizing Authority will be the Antigua Yacht Club.

The Rules – will be the ISAF RRS version 2017 – 2020

The Race Schedule will be

Race 1 Thursday 07/12 – start 4pm

Race 2 Thursday 14/12 – start 4pm

Race 3 Thursday 28/12 – start 4pm

Race 4 Thursday 04/01 – start 4pm

Race 5 Thursday 11/01 – start 4pm

Race 6 Thursday 18/01 – start 4pm

Race 7 Thursday 25/01 – start 4pm

Race 8 Thursday 01/02 – start 4pm

Race 9 Thursday 08/02 – start 4pm

Time Limits – for races will be sunset.

Boats not finishing within the time limit will be scored DNF

Classes – There will be ONE (Class A) or TWO (Class B) classes for the CSA rated boats depending on the number of entries. If insufficient entries all CSA boats will be combined into Class A only

There will be a FUN – non-rated – class for Cruisers, Classic Yachts and Workboats, and for those yachts who either have no rating or who wish to race less seriously. These yachts will be given an appropriate AYC rating. Obvious performance yachts will not be allowed to enter this class.

Classes will be allocated by the Organizers – and skippers will be informed of their class at the no later than the first warning signal for the whole series.

Outside Course: sailed along the coast between Falmouth Harbour and English Harbour.

The actual course to be sailed for any race will be notified by the committee boat / race officer by flag, hail or radio.

Start and Finish line will be the same, Inside Falmouth Harbour.

Scoring – Will be RRS Appendix A, Scoring LOW POINT System – amended as follows: –

For days when we sail multiple races on the inside course each race shall be scored as follows and the lowest score shall be the winner for that day. The series score for the day will be the place of the day not the points of the day.

Finishing – points equal to finishing place in that race

DNF – points equal to ONE more than the score of the last boat to finish in that race

DSQ – points equal to TWO more than the score of the last boat to finish in that race

DNC – ditto DSQ

DNF, DSQ, DNC – ditto above.

The winner of the series will be the lowest score out of any five races. Any yacht which has a DSQ in her score must count it.

Prizes

For Class A, The Series Prize is a New Trophy and will be a perpetual yacht club trophy called the “RIPTIDE MEMORIAL TROPHY” the trophy is a half model of Commodore Jol Byerley’s Olson 30 “RIPTIDE” the most Thursday Race winning yacht in Antigua Yacht Club History. The Trophy will be engraved with the name of the winning yacht and the year. This trophy is presented by Richard and Carol Archer and is to remain at the club in perpetuity.

Additional daily prizes (bottles of rum) – Sponsored by AYC – will be presented for the class winners of each days racing.

There maybe other prizes as well depending on sponsorship and number of entries.

RATINGS: For classes A and B current 2017 CSA ratings will be used. If a boat has an outdated rating it ‘may’ be accepted after updating by the organizers. Ratings prior to 2013 are unlikely to be accepted – these boats may then race in the fun class. However, performance boats will not be accepted into this class.

Boats in the non-CSA classes will be given an appropriate AYC club rating to properly assess their true performance. If there are any obvious errors in allocated ratings, then the organizers have the right to change the rating after day 1 or after day 2 to compensate – but not retrospectively.

A daily Race Progressive handicap system may also be used on an experimental basis.

The First WARNING (5 mins.) signal for the day will be at 5 mins. prior to the advertised time of START

An ATTENTION sound signal ‘may’ be given 1 minute beforehand (ie.at 6 mins. before FIRST start)

Fun / Cruiser Class will start first – Warning signal is a RED Flag

Class B will start second – Warning signal is a YELLOW Flag

Class A will start last – Warning signal is a GREEN Flag

The PREPARATORY (4 mins.) signal for each class will be indicated by the raising of flag P (or a solid BLUE Flag) which is dropped at 1 minute prior to the start. The Class Warning and P Flags are lowered at the start.

A sound signal ‘may’ also be given to draw attention to the flags.

Note – depending on the number of entries, two or more classes may be combined for starting. This would be indicated by VHF radio and by flying the appropriate class flags together at the Warning signal.

Other Signals and Procedures – Postponement, Shorten Course, etc. shall be in accordance with RRS.

Information will be available by email from captrarcher@gmail.com in advance of race days, and on the water on VHF 12 up to the warning signal for each race.

Radio – will use channel 12 which all yachts will be expected to monitor. Failure to hear any verbal instructions, properly put out, will not be grounds for protest or redress.

Sail Wardrobe – must be declared at time of entry or at latest before the first warning signal for race No. 1 i.e. 3.55 pm. on Thursday 07/12. The rating will then reflect the sail wardrobe selected for the series.

Protests

Must be submitted in writing to the Race Officer within 30 minutes of finishing the last race of the day

Protests will be heard at the AYC as soon as possible.

NOTE: This is a friendly club regatta – aggressive sailing and protests are discouraged.

Social – daily prizegiving will take place at either Club Sushi, Bar B’s, or the AYC event center at around 1830

Dockage – The AYC dock will be available to yachts on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

Following discussions between Antigua Yacht Club and Antigua Sailing Week along with the Triskell Organisation in Guadeloupe, a decision has been made to cancel the Guadeloupe to Antigua Race. Historically a passage race to Antigua Sailing Week, the race has dwindled in size over the last few years and has been increasingly difficult and costly to organise and has been deemed unviable.

All of the parties apologise for the late notice for 2018 and thank all those who have participated over the years. ...